If you intend to continue to bid on ebay as well as buy on the web, the advice on the next pages are things you need to know to decrease your chances of being ripped off. Keep in mind too, that the advice in the next pages IS NOT STATIC and can change at any time because

• scammers are smart and evolve their tactics when we don't bite on their scams,

• because of ever changing ebay and paypal policies,

• because of changing technology (e.g. Microsoft browser version upgrading and browser weakness exploits, new spyware, new viruses and worms and dialers, keyloggers, trojans, etc.), etc.

so you have to keep doing your own detective work before and as you bid.

Yes, there are ebayers who got good deals on high priced ebay items by not following any of the advice below, but they were:

1. incredibly lucky
2. got deals years ago or up to the present in a field where scamming was low or nonexistent
3. very money smart and/or experienced in detecting fraud and knowledgeable in their field for that specific item
4. knew & consulted with someone who was very smart and experienced in detecting fraud and knowledgeable in their field for that specific item
5. any combination of the above 4 listed

but most ebayers (no matter how many dealings they've done on ebay) can't spot every scam out there and will get ripped off because ebay doesn't fully disclose the high risk of fraud UPFRONT on their site and what types of fraud to look out for UPFRONT. Even for people who know about the scams out there, scammers are smart and are always evolving their tactics just like Darwin's Theory of Evolution.

People ask me what my motivation is for putting up this website and helping them and it's because i hate getting ripped off by anybody (including ebay) and not being informed of danger and ebay not putting any warnings UPFRONT where every bidder can see them and doing nothing about it when we're in trouble. I used to use ebay often, sniping here and there, enjoying interacting with the many honest sellers on ebay. And most sellers on ebay are honest or semi-honest. But later, i hated getting ripped off by this small group of scammers that kept ripping off ebayers, making my oh so fun experience not so fun anymore.

Don't get me wrong. Most ebay sellers are honest, but just like any great thing, ebay attracts scammers and the few scammers and bad or poor sellers ruin it for everybody on ebay.

Always remember when buying on ebay, ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!! The more you can think like a scammer, the faster you'll be able to detect their scams.

Again, why don't I shop ebay more often for high $$$ items?

1. no protection from rip off scammers
2. misrepresentation too common
3. sellers that scam sometimes but not enough to get kicked off ebay

A lot of what I say you'll probably counter by saying, "Not all people who do xxxxx are scammers. They could be honest." Yes, I agree, but I'm talking from the perspective as a buyer protecting her money and trying to get the LOWEST CHANCE OF BEING RIPPED OFF. In the early days of ebay, I wouldn't have to give so much advice since there weren't as many scammers and ebay wasn't so popular but these days, because of the severity of fraud on ebay, the advice I post is actually sound advice to a lot of people. Again, i apologize if you sell, too and it seems like I'm anti-seller (believe me i'm not, i'm just anti-scammer), but as long as ebay keeps their marketplace as unsafe as it is, the more strict my advice will be.

Admittedly in the next pages when i put such strict requirements for bidding, then the opportunity for you to get in on good deals will decrease but you always have to keep it in the back of your mind that ebay is not safe!! ebay doesn't put many strict verification rules in use for sellers. Any bozo (who can disappear from one place to another in a second) with a stolen CC can register with 1000+ " $1,000 items" which are all false ads. This is your money!! No one's going to 100% give you back 100% of your money easily and quickly on ebay if you make a mistake buying from the wrong seller!! And it's not that hard for intelligent consumers to make a mistake dealing with the wrong type of seller!! Once you send off money to a scammer or a poor or bad seller, it's gone!! You will have many headaches and many sleepless nights trying to get even some of it back if it's possible you can even get it back!!

I am NOT, under any circumstances, affiliated with any profit-seeking website, nor do I run this page for personal profit. Under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law, I am entitled to comment on the workmanship and business practices of Global Chocolates and ebay based on my experience. This website is intended for consumer education ONLY.

I don't really care whether you agree with me or whether you choose to continue to do business or not with ebay even after reading this website--basically, it's your decision. I only care whether many buyer ebayers and web shoppers are informed and "on the same page" with regards to fraud on ebay and on the web. Whenever I see people online getting ripped off for hundreds or thousands of $$$'s, it makes me wonder whether every ebayer has a "heads up" on fraud on ebay or the web. Most of the advice on the web regarding bidding on ebay and dealing with fake websites is too general. The info on here is more detailed, especially regarding how to bid/buy to avoid scammers.

I've got a few necessary graphics with my html but that's about it. Sorry for the lack of multi-crazy animated graphics, cascading style sheets, flash visuals, javascript, java, fancy doodad programming, etc. I want to keep it as simple as possible with plain html and "just the facts" since i know lots of people (including myself) who like their freedom when they surf the web. We don't like running into uninvited graphics & midi and don't want to wait a whole hour to download a webpage and the like. This forces us to have to rely on script controlled programming software which is mainly the fault of spyware "punch the monkey-like" makers who flat out abuse our ability to surf without much of their pollution. No problem with me. I try to keep it as simple as possible on my website. I just want to give out the info and make sure you get it in the easiest way. Though I can't control what geocities does to my website, I, personally try to keep my website coding to the simplest format possible. As they say, "KISS," or "keep it simple, stupid." This probably doesn't apply to you anyway if you've got script disabling software (hello ZoneAlarm Pro! hello Professional Ad-Aware!!). hehehehe

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